The present invention concerns a laser head comprising a laser resonator which comprises a laser source, such as a laser crystal or rod, and a front and a rear mirror. In particular, the invention concerns a laser head chiefly intended for surgical purposes.
Laser apparatus used in surgery are in general provided with one laser head per unit. The first combination apparatus comprising two laser heads was an argon-crypton ophthalmic surgery laser which was developed in 1972 and in which were combined the bluegreen wavelength of the argon laser and the red wavelength of the crypton laser in one single apparatus for treating different diseases, for instance for treating fundus of the eye in diabetics, for fixing a detached retina (argon laser), and degeneration of the macular area (krypton laser).
In the field of surgical universal lasers as rule a carbon dioxide laser (CO.sub.2) of a YAG laser (Nd:YAG) has been used either for vaporizing or coagulating cell tissue. Depending on the application and on the user's economic recources, usually one or the other has been purchased: formerly (1950-1985) the CO.sub.2 laser, nowadays often also the Nd:YAG laser.
As various laser apparatus applications are continuously increasing, and the need for using laser waves of different wavelengths is correspondingly increasing, the purchasing of different laser apparatus is problematic owing to the frequently high price of laser apparatus. Therefore, the lack of laser apparatus appropriate for different wavelength ranges constitutes a drawback which no one has been able to eliminate so far.